Huntington Beach sues state, claiming housing law is unconstitutional

FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2011, file photo, pedestrians walk along the Huntington Beach Pier in Huntington Calif. California Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration is using a new law for the first time in an attempt to force Southern California's self-styled "Surf City USA" to meet housing goals. The administration on Friday, Jan. 25, 2019, said it is suing Huntington Beach under the law that took effect Jan. 1. The measure was passed in 2017 as part of a package of bills intended to address the state's severe housing shortage and homelessness problem. (Armando Brown/The Orange County Register via AP, File)

The Orange County city of Huntington Beach has filed a lawsuit against the state of California, seeking to overturn SB35, a law that went into effect in 2018 that streamlines processes for building new housing developments.

Huntington Beach’s lawsuit contends that the state’s Constitution grants charter cities exclusive authority over local land use and zoning. SB35 requires housing projects to be approved faster if they offer affordable housing and meet certain conditions, such as the use of union labor.

Michael Gates, city attorney for Huntington Beach, said the city views the law as an overreach into city matters, specifically zoning.

“It’s one thing to have more basic housing laws come out of Sacramento; it’s another to have Sacramento try to micromanage cities’ zoning and attempt to approve development projects in spite of the city,” he said. “It’s really nothing more than the city trying to maintain its local control.”

In the lawsuit filed Jan. 17 in Orange County Superior Court, Gates argues that the new law allows the state to “rezone local land use in a city for its (ill-conceived) political purposes.”

Under SB35, the state has mandated that cities that don’t meet their housing targets set by the Regional Housing Needs Assessment must approve housing permits for projects that are at least 50 percent affordable.

In doing this, the lawsuit said, SB35 violates the state constitutional authority of charter cities to exclusively legislate over municipal affairs, which include land use and zoning.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, who authored the bill, released a statement Sunday emphasizing the lack of housing in California and the need for the state to set standards.

“Huntington Beach’s dismissive approach to housing — claiming there is no problem and that the state should just mind its own business — is Exhibit A for why we have a crisis in this state,” he said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that the state would sue the Orange County city for violating a different housing-related law, AB72 — the first lawsuit invoking the law that took effect in 2017. In filing the lawsuit, Newsom accused Huntington Beach of refusing to meet a state mandate to provide new housing for low-income people.

AB72 allows state housing officials to report municipalities to the attorney general for legal action if they do not adequately plan for housing construction.